Learn how to export a document, a book, or selected documents in a book as a single PDF file.

About Adobe PDF

Portable Document Format (PDF) is a universal file format
that preserves the fonts, images, and layout of source documents
created on a wide range of applications and platforms. Adobe PDF
is the standard for the secure, reliable distribution and exchange
of electronic documents and forms around the world. Adobe PDF files
are compact and complete, and can be shared, viewed, and printed
by anyone with free Adobe Reader® software.

Adobe PDF is highly effective in print publishing workflows.
By saving a composite of your artwork in Adobe PDF, you create a
compact, reliable file that you or your service provider can view,
edit, organize, and proof. Then, at the appropriate time in the
workflow, your service provider can either output the Adobe PDF
file directly, or process it using tools from various sources for
such post-processing tasks as preflight checks, trapping, imposition,
and color separation.

When you save in Adobe PDF, you can choose
to create a PDF/X-compliant file. PDF/X (Portable Document Format
Exchange) is a subset of Adobe PDF that eliminates many of the color,
font, and trapping variables that lead to printing problems. PDF/X
may be used wherever PDFs are exchanged as digital masters for print
production—whether at the creation or output stage of the workflow, as
long as the applications and output devices support PDF/X.

Adobe PDFs can solve the following problems associated with electronic documents:

Common problem

Adobe PDF solution

Recipients can't open files because they don't have the applications used to create the files.

Anyone, anywhere can open a PDF. All you need is the free Adobe Reader software.

Combined paper and electronic archives are difficult to search, take up space, and require the application in which a document was created.

PDFs are compact and fully searchable, and can be accessed at any time using Reader. Links make PDFs easy to navigate.

Documents appear incorrectly on handheld devices.

Tagged PDFs allow text to reflow for display on Mobile Platforms such as Palm OS®, Symbian™, and Pocket PC® devices.

Documents with complex formatting are not accessible to visually impaired readers.

Export to PDF for printing

Exporting a document or book to Adobe PDF is as simple as using the default High Quality Print settings, or as customized as you need it to be to suit your task. The PDF export settings you specify are saved with the application, and applies to every new InDesign document or book you export to PDF until you change them again. To quickly apply custom settings to PDF files, you can use presets.

You can export a document, a book, or selected documents in a book as a single PDF file. You can also copy content from your InDesign layout to the Clipboard, and automatically create an Adobe PDF file of that content. (This is useful for pasting a PDF file into another application, such as Adobe Illustrator.)

When you export an InDesign file to PDF, you can preserve navigation elements such as table of contents and index entries, and interactivity features such as hyperlinks, bookmarks, media clips, and buttons. You also have the option of exporting hidden layers, nonprinting layers, and nonprinting objects to PDF. If you’re exporting a book, you can merge identically named layers by using the Book panel.

Export an open document to PDF
for printing

When you select the Adobe PDF (Print) option, you cannot include interactive elements in the PDF. To export an interactive document to PDF, see Create interactive documents for PDF.

Do one of the following:

To use a predefined set of job options,
choose a preset from the Adobe PDF Preset menu.

To create a PDF/X file, either choose a PDF/X preset
from the Adobe PDF Preset menu, or choose a predefined PDF/X format
from the Standard menu.

To customize options, select a category from the
list on the left and then set the options.

For Compatibility, choose the lowest PDF version necessary
to open the files you create.

Specify the following Accessibility Options under the Advanced tab, if necessary:

Display Title

Choose what to display in the title bar of Acrobat when it opens your PDF. Available options are Document Title and File Name.

Language

Choose the document language for the PDF. This determines the default language for the exported PDF. If the required language is not in the list, you can also type the standard language ISO code.

Click Export (Windows) or Save (Mac OS).

Note:

To reset options to the default, in the
Export Adobe PDF dialog box, hold down Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS)
and click Reset. (The Cancel button changes to Reset.)

Prepare layers before exporting a book to PDF

When you export a book to PDF, you can show
and hide InDesign layers in the PDF document. To avoid duplication
of layer names in the PDF, you can merge the layers on export.

If
the Merge Identically Named Layers On Export option is selected,
layer names appear under the same book name in Acrobat or Reader.
If this option is not selected, layer names appear separately under
each document name.

If you don’t want certain layers to be merged,
give them unique names in each book document.

Layer names are case-sensitive, so “Art” and “art” layers
are not merged.

In the Book panel menu, select Merge Identically Named
Layers On Export.

Note:

When you export the book to PDF, make sure that Create
Acrobat Layers is selected. To select this option, you must use
Acrobat 6 (PDF 1.5) or later compatibility.

Export a book to PDF

Do one of the following:

To create a PDF of the entire book, click
in a blank area of the Book panel to deselect any selected documents,
and choose Export Book To PDF in the Book panel menu.

To create a PDF of documents within a book, select
the document or documents in the Book panel, and choose Export Selected
Documents To PDF in the Book panel menu.

Specify a name and location for the PDF file, and then
click Save.

Either choose a preset from the Adobe PDF Preset menu,
or select a category from the list on the left of the Export Adobe
PDF dialog box, and then customize the options.

Click Export (Windows) or Save (Mac OS).

Reduce the size of PDFs

For PDF files that are intended to be
distributed for viewing purposes only, you may want to reduce the
size of PDF files when you export from InDesign. Here are some of
the size reduction techniques you can use in the Export Adobe PDF dialog
box:

Choose [Smallest File Size] from the Adobe PDF Preset menu.

In the Compression area, downsample images to 72 pixels per inch, select automatic compression, and select either low- or medium-image quality for color and grayscale images. When you work with photographic images, use Automatic (JPEG) compression; when you work with images that are mostly solid color, such as charts and graphs, use ZIP compression.

In the Output area, use the Ink Manager to convert spot colors to process colors.

Note:

To reduce the
size of PDFs, simply open the PDF in Acrobat 8.0 or later, choose Document >
Reduce File Size, and then specify the compatibility level. For
greater control, choose Advanced > PDF Optimizer.

For
more information on reducing the size of PDF files, see Acrobat
Help and the Adobe website.

Adobe PDF presets

A PDF preset is a group of settings that affect the process of creating a PDF. These settings are designed to balance file size with quality, depending on how the PDF is used. Most predefined presets are shared across Adobe Creative Suite components, including InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, and Acrobat. You can also create and share custom presets for your unique output requirements.

A few of the presets listed below are not available until you move them—as needed—from the Extras folder (where they are installed by default) to the Settings folder. Typically, the Extras and Settings folders are found in (Windows Vista and Windows 7) ProgramData\Adobe\AdobePDF, (Windows XP) Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Adobe\Adobe PDF, or (Mac OS) Library/Application Support/Adobe PDF. Some presets are not available in some Creative Suite components.

Review your PDF settings periodically.
The settings do not automatically revert to the default settings.
Applications and utilities that create PDFs use the last set of PDF
settings defined or selected.

High Quality
Print

Creates
PDFs for quality printing on desktop printers and proofing devices.
This preset uses PDF 1.4, downsamples color and grayscale images
to 300 ppi and monochrome images to 1200 ppi, embeds subsets of
all fonts, leaves color unchanged, and does not flatten transparency
(for file types capable of transparency). These PDFs can be opened
in Acrobat 5.0 and Acrobat Reader 5.0 and later. In InDesign,
this preset also creates tagged PDFs.

Illustrator Default (Illustrator only)

Creates a PDF in which all Illustrator data is preserved.
PDFs created with this preset can be reopened in Illustrator without any
loss of data.

Oversized Pages (Acrobat only)

Creates
PDFs suitable for viewing and printing of engineering drawings larger
than 200 x 200 inches. These PDFs can be opened in Acrobat and Reader
7.0 and later.

PDF/A-1b: 2005 (CMYK and RGB) (Acrobat only)

Used for long-term preservation (archival) of electronic
documents. PDF/A‑1b uses PDF 1.4 and converts all colors
to either CMYK or RGB, depending on which standard you choose. These PDFs
can be opened in Acrobat and Reader versions 5.0 and later.

PDF/X‑1a (2001 and 2003)

PDF/X‑1a requires all fonts to be embedded, the appropriate marks and bleeds to be specified, and color to appear as CMYK, spot colors, or both. Compliant files must contain information describing the printing condition for which they are prepared. PDF files created with PDF/X‑1a compliance can be opened in Acrobat 4.0 and Acrobat Reader 4.0 and later.

Note: The PDF/X1‑a:2003 and PDF/X‑3 (2003) presets are placed on your computer during installation but are not available until you move them from the Extras folder to the Settings folder.

PDF/X-3

This preset creates a PDF based on the ISO standard PDF/X-3:2002.
The PDF created in this setting can be opened in Acrobat 4.0 and
Acrobat Reader 4.0 or later.

PDF/X‑4 (2008)

This preset creating ISO PDF/X-4:2008 files supports live transparency (transparency is not flattened) and ICC color management. PDF files exported with this preset are in PDF 1.4 format for CS5 and PDF 1.6 format for CS5.5 and later. Images are downsampled and compressed and fonts are embedded in the same manner as with the PDF/X-1a and PDF/X-3 settings. You can create PDF/X-4:2008 compliant PDF files directly from Creative Suite 4 and 5 components including Illustrator, InDesign, and Photoshop. Acrobat 9 Pro provides facilities to validate and preflight PDF files for PDF/X-4:2008 compliance and convert non-PDF/X files to PDF/X-4:2008 if possible.

Creates PDF files for high-quality print production (for example, for digital printing or for separations to an imagesetter or platesetter), but does not create files that are PDF/X-compliant. In this case, the quality of the content is the highest consideration. The objective is to maintain all the information in a PDF file that a commercial printer or print service provider needs to print the document correctly. This set of options uses PDF 1.4, converts colors to CMYK, downsamples color and grayscale images to 300 ppi and monochrome images to 1200 ppi, embeds subsets of all fonts, and preserves transparency (for file types capable of transparency).

These PDF files can be opened in Acrobat 5.0 and Acrobat Reader 5.0 and later.

Note: Before creating an Adobe PDF file to send to a commercial printer or print service provider, find out what the output resolution and other settings should be, or ask for a .joboptions file with the recommended settings. You might need to customize the Adobe PDF settings for a particular provider and then provide a .joboptions file of your own.

Smallest File Size

Creates
PDF files for displaying on the web, an intranet, or for email distribution.
This set of options uses compression, downsampling, and a relatively
low image resolution. It converts all colors to sRGB and embeds
fonts. It also optimizes files for byte serving. For best results,
avoid using this preset if you intend to print the PDF file.

These
PDF files can be opened in Acrobat 5.0 and Acrobat Reader
5.0 and later.

Magazine Ads 2006 (Japan)

This preset creates a PDF based on the creation rules designed
by Digital Data Delivery committee.

Standard (Acrobat only)

Creates PDF files to be printed to desktop printers or digital copiers, published on a CD, or sent to a client as a publishing proof. This set of options uses compression and downsampling to keep the file size down, but also embeds subsets of all (allowed) fonts used in the file, converts all colors to sRGB, and prints to a medium resolution. Note that Windows font subsets are not embedded by default. PDF files created with this settings file can be opened in Acrobat 6.0 and Acrobat Reader 6.0 and later.

Customize Adobe PDF presets

Although the default PDF presets are based on best practices, you may discover that your workflow, or perhaps your printer’s workflow, requires specialized PDF settings that aren’t available via any of the built‑in presets. If so, you or your service provider can create custom presets. Adobe PDF presets are saved as .joboptions files.

Choose File > Adobe PDF Presets >
Define.

Do one of the following:

To create a new preset, click New. If you want to base the new preset on an existing preset, select the preset first. Set PDF options, and click OK. (See Adobe PDF presets.)

To save a preset in a location other than the default
Settings folder in the Adobe PDF folder, select it and click Save
As. Specify a location and click Save.

Alternatively, you can create a custom preset when you
save a PDF file by clicking Save Preset at the bottom of the Export
Adobe PDF dialog box. Enter a name for the preset and click OK.

Load Adobe PDF presets

New
PDF presets (.joboptions files) that you create are stored in the
Settings folder in the following locations:

Windows XP

Documents and Settings\[username]\Application Data\Adobe\Adobe
PDF

Windows Vista and Windows 7

Users\[username]\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Adobe
PDF

Mac OS

User/[username]/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Adobe
PDF

These presets automatically appear
in the Adobe PDF Presets menu.

Supplementary InDesign PDF
presets are installed in the system’s Adobe PDF\Extras folder. Use
your system search utility to locate additional .joboptions files.
You may also receive custom PDF presets from service providers and colleagues.
For these presets to be listed in the Adobe PDF Presets menu, they must
be moved to the Settings folder either manually or by using the
Load command.

Load PDF presets

The Load command is useful if you want to
load PDF presets that someone sent you, or to load PDF presets from
InDesign CS2.

Choose File > Adobe PDF Presets >
Define.

Click Load and select the .joboptions file you want to
load.

The .joboptions file is copied to the Settings folder
where new PDF presets are stored.

Note:

To make
a .joboptions file available in the Adobe PDF Presets menu, you
can also drag it to the Settings folder where your PDF presets are
stored.

Convert PDF presets from InDesign
CS

InDesign CS and earlier export PDF presets
with .pdfs extensions, while InDesign CS2 and later export PDF presets
with .joboptions extensions. Importing a PDFS file converts it to
a .joboptions file, and overrides settings as necessary. For example,
if Monitor RGB was selected as the destination profile in the Output area
in InDesign CS, it is automatically changed to Document RGB in InDesign CS4.

Choose File > Adobe PDF Presets >
Define.

Click Load.

Choose Previous-version PDF Settings Files (.pdfs) from
the Files Of Type menu (Windows) or All Files from the Enable menu
(Macintosh).

Double-click the file you want to convert.

The file becomes selected in the list of Adobe PDF presets.

Background Tasks panel

With the ability to export PDF files in the background,
you can continue working on your document instead of waiting until
InDesign is done exporting. You can also queue up multiple PDF exports
in the background. Use the Background Tasks panel to view the progress
of the export processes.